Runners Universe Forum » Topic: AFI Top 100 Films

Runners Universe Forum » Topic: AFI Top 100 Films http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/topic/afi-top-100-films Runners Universe Forum » Topic: AFI Top 100 Films en-US Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:44:33 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/search.php Sean Wang on "AFI Top 100 Films" http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/topic/afi-top-100-films#post-48 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:38:39 +0000 Sean Wang 48@http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/ 2 more movies down: The Jazz Singer (1927): One of those movies, like Birth of a Nation, that falls into the category of needing to see it not so much for the story itself but for its historical importance to the film industry. That being said, I don't think those movies are the most enjoyable to watch since usually the "wow" context isn't there today. For instance, it's hard to be amazed by a movie that first uses a certain film-making technique when I've actually grown up seeing that technique in every movie since. The Jazz Singer was apparently important because it was the first "talkie." While still mostly a silent movie, the Al Jolson song numbers (and some short bits of dialogue around those numbers) were the first to use synchronized sound and dialogue. The story itself was fine, with the main character (Jolson) being torn between his desire to be an entertainer and his Jewish cantor father, who wants him to follow in his footsteps. They totally stole that story from Krusty the Clown's origin on The Simpsons. Unfortunately, no smoking pet monkey on roller skates though. A Place in the Sun: I enjoyed this one quite a bit. The title conjured up images or a sweeping epic romance, so that's what I was bracing myself for. But it actually had a pretty tense and suspenseful story that even felt a bit Hitchcock-y at times. Basically, an up-and-coming guy has a relationship with a factory worker but then tries to leave her behind when he starts seeing a much more cultured (and rich) socialite. His dream life with the new woman is in danger of unraveling when the first woman refuses to let him go. I think this one holds up pretty well and was very entertaining on its own merits. Plus, it was one of Elizabeth Taylor's first roles as an adult (she was 17 at the time), so it was nice to see someone of her legendary status in an actual acting role, as opposed to the multiple-ex-husband punchline that I've only known her as for most of my life. Sean Wang on "AFI Top 100 Films" http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/topic/afi-top-100-films#post-47 Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:23:23 +0000 Sean Wang 47@http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/ A few recent additions, with the caveat that my comments will contain spoilers (as much as you can call something a "spoiler" for a movie that's been out for at least a couple decades): MASH: Didn't really like it for reasons I explained above (it portraying a "shapshot" series of events as opposed to a "plot" story). Basically, a couple new doctors show up at medical camp, enjoy some juvenile antics and sexcapades, talk a guy out of suicide, spy on a woman in the shower, go to Japan to perform an operation and squeeze in some golf, and play a football game. The end. What? I think this is one of those films that was groundbreaking at the time but loses a great deal of its potency later when viewed in a different political and social climate. Plus, am I really supposed to care about or like any of the main characters? I just found them to be cocky, delinquent, and juvenile. I wouldn't find those traits particularly endearing in main characters of a lowball college sex comedy or a Wayans Brothers movie, so I'm not sure why I should like it here, other than it's Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland. I'm guessing the TV series was better. I know I watched it as a kid, but I was too young to remember any of it. But it's got to be better than the movie though, although I'm pretty sure it was no Night Court. <img src="http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/bb-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":-)" class="bb_smilies" /> Doctor Zhivago: I kinda liked it in the end but was so-so on it throughout. A 3.5-hour epic love story set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution of 1917. I know it's supposed to be an epic, but it didn't really feel like one. It just felt long. Unlike Lawrence of Arabia, which does feel epic because the character actually interacts with the parties around him and has a direct effect on certain events within the huge scope of things, that doesn't seem to be the case with Zhivago. It's a much more personal story of two people, but as such, you really don't feel much of the revolution itself. I guess for an epic, I prefer something like Lawrence of Arabia or Lord of the Rings, where ordinary people are caught up in extraordinary events and actually have a hand in shaping them. Or they at least interact with them and are affected by them in a direct way or are personally trying to achieve something of epic proportions. That justifies a 3.5-hour running time. It's much harder for me to think of a love story that needs 3.5 hours to tell (Titanic may be an exception but only because I enjoy that movie for the utter chaos and panic of the ship going down and not for the love story itself). With Zhivago, a couple meets, they lose each other, they find each other, they're separated, they find each other, they lose each other, etc, etc. Not much else really seems to happen. It does come together nicely in the end though, so at least it has that over MASH. Have I mentioned that I don't like MASH? West Side Story: I'll admit I'm a sucker for a good musical, especially when its songs have permeated pop culture and are instantly recognizable and catchy. The first half hour or so of West Side Story, I was skeptical, since I had a very hard time buying a street gang like the Jets, given how they dance and how they dress. At least with Grease, the guys did both in a more masculine way, which made them believable as "tough guys." Not so much with the Jets. But I eventually got over that as I got absorbed in the story, and it was a great story, which everyone knows is a modern take on Romeo and Juliet. It has some great songs like "America," "Maria," "I Feel Pretty," "Somewhere," and many others you'd probably recognize. Interestingly, a few days after watching the movie, I caught the Flight of the Conchords episode where they spoof the "Cool" song from West Side Story. I love when that happens. Sean Wang on "AFI Top 100 Films" http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/topic/afi-top-100-films#post-46 Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:41:24 +0000 Sean Wang 46@http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/ As far as the classics go, I definitely find that some hold up really well and others, not so much. And I’m finding that I only really like movies with an actual “story” or “plot.” I really don’t care for “snapshot” movies that are just a series of seemingly random events that just show what life is like for a character without there being any actual structured plot to tell. For instance, I didn’t really like Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider, or MASH. These all just seemed like collections of random occurrences, none of which added or subtracted anything important from any overall story, and then the movie ended. Not my cup of tea. But then there are movies like High Noon, Stagecoach, To Kill a Mockingbird, African Queen, West Side Story, etc, and those I actually enjoyed quite a bit. Sean Wang on "AFI Top 100 Films" http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/topic/afi-top-100-films#post-45 Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:36:13 +0000 Sean Wang 45@http://www.runnersuniverse.com/forum/ I made a mention of this in a blog post but decided to start a thread here since I'll probably be adding to it now and then as I whittle away at the list. Way back in 2000, I printed out a list of the AFI (American Film Institute) Top 100 Movies of all time (they updated the list in 2007, but I’m going off of the original version). Since then, I’ve slowly been working my way through the list and I’m currently about a dozen away from having watched all 100 movies . My wife calls these “homework movies” and isn’t terribly interested in many of them, so while she was out of town recently, I decided to plow through some of the remaining movies, including “Birth of a Nation,” a 3-hour silent movie from 1915 about two families during the Civil War and Reconstruction period. Wow. Talk about a time capsule, and not in a particularly good way. There’s something to be said about a movie where the Ku Klux Klan emerges as the heroic cavalry to save the white underdogs from oppression by the political and social powerhouse of the black populace. Weird. At times, I felt like I was watching some sci-fi movie about an alternate, mirror-universe Earth. I was almost expecting someone at the end to find a half-buried black Statue of Liberty sticking up out of the sand. Anyway, I’m glad I watched it, but as far as silent movies go, I’ll probably stick with the Chaplin stuff.